E-way bill generation fell to a 3-month low in February

New Delhi: In February, e-way bill generation fell to a three-month low of over 8.18 crores. It was higher than 8.24 crore and 8.41 crore in January and December.

Technically, the data for February is 28 days while the previous two months (January and December) have a total of 31 days. However, during the financial year 2021-22, the number of e-way bills generated in December was 7.16 crore which decreased to 6.88 crore in January but increased to 6.91 crore in February.

One month's e-way bill generation gives an indication of GST collection in the next month. This means a lower number of e-way bills in February may end up in lower collections. However, some experts say that e-way bill generation is not directly linked to revenue collection.

An e-way bill is an electronic document that provides proof of movement of goods at the portal. As per Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017, every registered person carrying out movement of goods (which may not be necessary due to supply) worth more than Rs.50,000 is required to generate an e-way bill.

This needs to be generated by the consignor or consignee himself if the transport is being done in own/hired transport or by rail by air or by ship.

GST collections, during the 12-month period from March 2022 to February 2023, stood at Rs 1.40 lakh crore or more per month. In fact, April 2022 saw an all-time high collection of Rs 1.68 lakh crore while the second highest collection was in January this year at over Rs 1.56 lakh crore. Now, the government expects more than Rs.1.50 lakh crore in the coming months.